A financial advisor has found a way to get his hands on Ozempic – and is selling it a fraction of the cost thanks to pharmacies that make generic versions and deliver it straight to your door.
The trailblazing strategy comes as Americans across the country frantically try to find ways to obtain the all-elusive weight drug, which is only prescribed and covered by insurance for those with diabetes.
David Soliman, 43, found a way around this during his own weight loss journey – one that culminated with him losing 70 pounds and forming a successful business.
Instead of spending big on name brand versions of the drug without coverage – he finds other firms that deliver the GLP-1 injections themselves, after making them in-house with near-identical formulas.
The process is perfectly legal, albeit pricey and also not covered by insurance. However, it allows him to sell generic versions of the drug for a fourth of the cost.
By snapping up the hard-to-find injections in bulk, he’s successfully created a booming business, and he has the scoop on how to secure the drug yourself, amid the frenzy that is GLP-1 drugs. All you have to do, he says? Forgo the brand name.
David Soliman, 43, found a way around spending big on brands like Ozempic – and you can too
He took advantage of the craze being touted by celebs like Oprah to create a booming business
‘I have never text messaged a drug dealer before for illegal drugs, but that is very much what this process felt like,’ Soliman told Nola.com of his first, somewhat sketchy delivery – the first of many.
‘That’s when it kind of clicked for me,’ the New Orleans wealth management advisor explained.
‘As a financial advisor, I’m constantly researching and looking at things that are disrupting markets.
‘This really got my attention, that it completely flipped things on its head, as far as an entire specialty within medicine.’
He went on to lay out how he cornered the untapped market, after being tipped off by a local mom who turned him on to the concept of ordering the drugs from telehealth firms turning to compounding pharmacies to make generic versions of the drug known by names like Wegovy, Zepbound, Mounjaro, and Ozempic.
Amid a national shortage that’s sent the price of Ozempic sky-high, this serves as a creative workaround – one that Soliman said cuts the cost of GLP-1 receptor agonists a great deal, while leaving room for profit.
He also explained how such compounding pharmacies are typically restricted from making copies of commercially available drugs, there is a loophole that allows it during a shortage.
They get around patent laws by adding a harmless vitamin such as B12, as compound pharmacies already are drugstores that tailor-make drugs based on the needs of specific patients, Soliman explained.
He cornered an untapped market by ordering generic versions of the drug from participating compounding pharmacies, stores that tailor-make drugs based on the needs of specific patients. Pictured, an unrelated Walgreen’s pharmacy in New Orleans, where Soliman is based
Another creative way of cutting costs amid a new surge of demand, this allows him to sell GLP-1 receptor agonists for between $240 to $390 via Facebook – while users getting it prescribed fork over as much $1,000 a month without insurance coverage.
Most insurance plans cover Ozempic – however, it’s only when it’s used as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes.
For everyone else, Soliman’s strategy is a viable one. He’s capitalized on those fed-up with the cost of getting it prescribed – a number now in the thousands as a shortage continues to hamper supply.
That said, it does not come without its flaws – as some experts warn that patients should proceed with caution while looking at compounded formulations of the drug.
They are not subject to approval from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and are thus essentially unregulated and subject to human error.
The agency has thus sent a series of warning letters to firms found to be marketing fraudulent weight loss injections that deviate from the formulas followed by brands like Ozempic – but again, Soliman bills the Vitamin B method as an easy workaround.
Dr. Taniya De Silva, an endocrinologist at LSU Health New Orleans who treats patients with diabetes and obesity, told Nola.com that compounded drugs could be a viable option when prescribed for qualifying patients, but only if they are the same molecular formula as the ones from the manufacturer.
‘You do have to be careful about who you’re seeing and make sure that they’re actually knowledgeable about all the risk-benefit profiles,’ she said.
Dr. Taniya De Silva, an endocrinologist at LSU Health New Orleans who treats patients with diabetes and obesity, told Nola.com that compounded drugs could be a viable option when prescribed, but only if they are the same molecular formula as the manufacturer version
Soliman lost an astounding 70 pounds since his first delivery, showing how the drugs known by a variety of names Wegovy, Zepbound, Mounjaro and Ozempic most assuredly work – and you can also make them work for you. All you have to do? Forgo the brand name, he says
With a Facebook group sporting more than 800 members, Soliman’s success seems to adhere to these guidelines – further bolstered by his financial background and backing of several cooperating physicians.
‘There’s an incredibly viral component to these shots, where people see you losing weight, they want to know what you’re doing,’ Soliman told the publication Sunday, in a piece centered around his successful market capitalization of the current craze.
‘It’s hard to find legitimate businesses backed by doctors that aren’t some fly-by-night-type shop.
‘I think people see that about us, and they’re drawn to it as well.’
Drugs like Ozempic, meanwhile, work by mimicking the effect glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, a hormone released by the gut when you eat.
It turns off hunger signals in the brain and stimulates the pancreas to release insulin – a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
You will need to eat a reduced-calorie diet and exercise regularly while taking the drug.
The combination results in an average of a 15 per cent reduction in body weight within 16 months.
With a Facebook group sporting more than 800 members, Soliman’s success seems to adhere to these guidelines – further bolstered by his financial background and backing of several cooperating physicians
Side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation.
Some doctors have criticized its ‘lifetime’ status, as those who stop taking it often gain the weight back, perpetually needing injections.
Compounding pharmacists tailor drugs for patients who have needs not met by brand versions of the drugs – like those of an infant who may need a pill in liquid form.
